DIY wreaths are super creative during the festive season or any time of the year! And a perfect bow gives the most beautiful finishing touch to it. But what remains as a perplexing question of all time is – how to make a bow?
Not many people are pros in the art of how to make a bow out of ribbon. It requires anyone to know the right techniques to understand how to tie a bow with ribbon. In this blog, we will discuss all about how to make bows for wreaths.
To begin with, we all know that having a handmade bow adds an extraordinary touch to your wreath. There is a wide variety of colorful bow making tutorials available. You can follow them to revolutionize the way you include bows into the DIY craft projects you are planning for the future.
But as we have been into the fashion and decor niche for a long time, our recent research has revealed that there are a couple of easy ways to make the most attractive bows. And we are going to discuss them today. Read below to have an extensive idea of the same.
Let’s dive in…
What Supplies do You Need to Make a Bow?
Ribbon
One of the most important items for making a bow is the ribbon. There are different types of colorful ribbons available in the market today. But for making a bow, you need a wide one that is at least 2-3 inches in width. You can either go for a wired edge ribbon or use a regular ribbon.
If you opt for a wired ribbon, it will help you have control over the shape of the loops that you will make and if you want to have any bends in the tail part. You are also free to use any regular ribbon but just keep in mind that it will be a little droopier or stiff, depending on the material of your ribbon.
Are you up for buying some beautiful ribbons for your next creative bow?
Hop into Amazon! They have a huge collection of different styles and shapes.
String or Wire
Next, what seems to be more important is a piece of string or flexible wire to cinch the ribbon of your bow altogether. There are many types of floral wire available in the market now; you can find a spool of floral wire on Amazon. You could even use a twisty tie. When it comes to a string or wire, you can use pretty much anything. Anyway, the wire is going to get covered up with the ribbon, so no problem!
Hot Glue Gun
We are going to use the hot glue gun in this process in an easy way. We will need hot glue to give a finishing touch to your wreath. Just use a low or high temp glue gun for this. You will find many little hot glue guns from Amazon. Nothing is fancy here!
There are many ways to make a bow. Today, in this blog, we will mainly focus on two easy styles to choose from:
- Classic Single Loop Bow
- Double Ribbon Bow
How to Make a Simple Single Loop Bow?
To make a simple single loop bow is an easy option. All you need to do is just take some simple steps and that’s it!
Read on,
- You need to start by cutting a long piece of ribbon. The ideal way is to use 1.5-2 yards of ribbon. It depends on the extent of dramatic effect or floppy that you want.
- Also, it depends on how wide your ribbon is. The longer it will be, the better it is. When it comes to how to make a bow, typically a 3.5 inches long ribbon should be used. I use 1.5 yards generally. In case you want 2 loops in ribbon, you should use 1 yard of long ribbon.
- However, it is better to go for 2 yards because that would be a better option to create longer tails. In the case of 2 loops in ribbon, around 1 yard of the long ribbon should be used.
- The next step is to make a loop out of it. The ribbon that is present on the end will be the tails of your loop. So, you need to adjust the size of the loop as per your preference.
- Now, you need to bring the middle of the loop down to the cross of the ribbons and at last, cinch it with your fingers. Make sure you are adjusting the size of the loop, depending on whether you want a big or small loop for your bow.
- Now, what you need to do is secure the loop with a string or wire. Moreover, you should cut a small piece of ribbon for making the ‘knot’. Now, you should fold or tie a knot in it, if needed.
- The next step is all about fixing. Use good quality glue to adjust the knot in the right place and secure the ends of your bow on the back. If it’s not pretty, that’s fine. Nobody is going to see the back of your bow. In this step, you should leave the wire or string on. It will help you secure the bow to the wreath perfectly. Else, you can even cut them off and all you need to do at the right time is just hot glue the bow to the wreath, that’s it.
- Finally, cut the tails as you want, either it can be in a V shape or at any angle. If you want to make the V, you need to fold the end in half lengthwise and make one angle snipped. You will notice that the ribbon will start fraying if the cut is made straight across. It will be the same situation unless you cover the edges with a flame or use nail polish. A V-cut bow looks prettier for sure!
- Voila! It’s done. Your bow will turn out to be a spectacular one.
And it’s easy too…huh?
This was all about how to make a single loop bow? You can also use the same steps to determine how to make a bow with a wired ribbon.
Now, we will learn about the steps of making a double ribbon bow step-by-step.
Let’s explore….
What are the Essentials You Will Need?
Making this bow doesn’t take a lot of fancy items! Just some regular items in your hand and you will be able to make a bow perfectly. Some of the most basic ones include:
- Ribbon of two combinations (red and white) and (black and white).
- Zip tie
- Scissors
- If you are using two different ribbons, make sure they are of the same width.
What are the Steps to Create a Double Ribbon Bow?
- Place a ribbon of one color above another. Make sure they make one ribbon. Next, what you need to do is trim off the ends of your clubbed ribbon.
- The second step is to curl the ends of the ribbon so that there is a center loop.
- Then, you should form the side loops of the bow. Here, you need to keep in mind that if you are making use of a one-sided ribbon, you have to ensure that you are twisting the ribbon for each loop.
- At this stage, you must form loops on each side of the loop, just ensure that you go back and forth as you keep adding the loops.
- You have to keep in mind that all the loops are of the same size. Else, you can make a set of loops larger than the other, it adds drama to the bow!
- Now when it comes to forming the streamers, you should make a giant loop and then cut off the extra ribbon.
- Then you have to bring together the centers of all the loops and keep them secured with a zip tie.
- Further, you have to fluff the bow.
- If you want to create a chevron, cut ends for the streamers. It is preferable to fold the stream ribbons half-lengthwise and then fold widthwise as well.
Wrapping Up
So, by now you must have got an idea of how to make a bow perfectly. If you didn’t have an idea about making a gorgeous bow for your festive wreath or it can even be for your hair, hope this article has helped you understand the real basics and specifications. We have tried to cover all the crucial basics and steps in detail.
Our both step-by-step guides of creating a single loop bow and double ribbon bow are extremely elaborate. All you need to do is just follow these steps and you will see striking bows being created right in front of you!
So, what are you waiting for?
Enjoy making beautiful bows to boost the DIY side in yourself and give a spark to your creativity like never before.
Happy DIY-ing!
Get the perfect bows ready now.
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